We'll Have a Home
by quondam
Summary: The Quarians may reclaim Rannoch at the end of the war, but for Tali and Shepard, it won't be enough until they share a home there.


___Story originally inspired by a prompt from masseffectkink on LJ, asking for a story that explored the conversation Tali and a romantically involved Shepard had during their final goodbye at the beam on Earth._

* * *

"_We'll have a home on Rannoch," Shepard had always said._

_And like a song, Tali would call back, launching into the refrain. "And we'll have children."_

"_Sons and daughters," he'd reply, content to imagine as they built their dreamworld, night after night, day after day._

"_That can play out back, that maybe someday won't have to wear suits."_

_Shepard would stroke her mask, longing to feel the warmth of her body, or if he was lucky enough, he'd be able to touch her skin himself. "Feel the sun on their face."_

"_And I'll be yours forever," Tali would whisper, finding his hand with her own._

"_We'll have a home."_

No matter the setting, it was always the same: down in engineering, sharing a moment with others nearby; in his cabin, speaking against the soft skin of her inner thigh with the taste of her on his tongue; out on Rannoch, overlooking the planet of her people's birth. They would have a home, and they would be together.

They chose a spot near a stream at the flattened top of a small hill, a place that Tali had promised would be good for cultivating the soil, nursing it back to life. Rannoch would be beautiful again with the Quarians and Geth to tend to it. It took time to finally settle, to allow themselves to be selfish, and for Shepard to feel well enough to even attempt the process of building that home they dreamt of on their own. When it was finished, Shepard still had an ache in his back, one that he knew would never go away, but he paid it no mind. Their home was complete, and he would be happy to find peace away from the rest of the galaxy's troubles.

Tali had been right about the nutrient readings of the dirt, as already the home was nestled in grasses and shrubs, the seeds of trees planted in the backyard to offer shade to their future children. Off in the distance, Shepard could see Tali bent over the boxes built in the garden, tending meticulously to the growing vegetables and fruits. On the cool nights when Shepard had insisted even the Geth take a break from piecing together the home, he and Tali had gone out there, digging into the soil with their bare hands, sprinkling the seeds into their proper place, and watering them diligently with the hope that some day, some day soon, they could enjoy the fruits of their labor. Every day since then, Tali had been there getting her hands dirty, encouraging the seedlings to continue to grow tall and strong and healthy.

She looked up and away from what she was doing, instead glancing in his direction. Shepard's heart clenched in his chest at the sight, long dark hair framing her face, blowing in the wind as wisps of it got caught on an eyelash. She was beautiful, he'd always known it, even before she'd trusted him enough to take off her mask. Out here, isolated as they were, she was wearing the suit less and less, testing her immune system as it grew heartier, just like the plants.

Shepard couldn't remain in the doorway of the home for long, and soon enough he found himself ambling in her direction, fingers brushing against the overgrown flowers and other plant life. Weeds, the long and durable strands of green, had probably once been called, but now they were welcomed, if only for their ability to thrive in even less than ideal conditions. Tali was standing by time he reached her, dirt smeared across her brow.

"They'll be ripe in a few days," she said, motioning to the vines on the nearby trellis he'd built with his own two hands. What was growing, he didn't know, but he could see the swelling fruits, green but ripening into a deep purple, all in various stages of maturation. It didn't take a botanist to understand that they'd be best for picking soon, and though he wouldn't be indulging in the homegrown dextro, he couldn't wait to see her pick one right from the vine, sink her teeth into the juicy skin, relishing the first taste of her planet.

It was hot, and as he palmed her cheek, he felt the sticky moisture of their mutual perspiration. Even like this, worked hard after a long day, she was pretty. While once long ago, it had been the image of her without her helmet on that had been the rarity, these days it was just the opposite, and he'd since stopped associating the color purple with the fabric of her hood, her suit, but rather with the lightness of her skin. Tali leaned her head into his touch and smiled.

"I want you here," he whispered, stepping in close. They were alone for miles around them, no one in sight to intrude and act the voyeur, but Shepard doubted he would ever get used to the idea of true solitude. His other hand dropped to her waist, its own personal home found at the width of her hip, though it didn't stay still, idle hand pulling at and releasing the nearby clasps of the modified suit she wore.

Tali made no protest, but allowed him to take the reins, turning on the toes of her boots as he tugged her zipper down. When she wound back around, suit falling from her bare shoulders, Shepard had his mouth to hers, arm curled at the small of her back as he braced himself for what he had planned, supporting her weight as he leaned her backward, the two of them falling to the lush grass underneath them.

She kept her fingers in his hair, the cropped cut that had grown longer than she'd ever seen, though still just barely enough for her hands to get into and to understand the feel of it within her grasp. Shepard continued to pull at the skin-tight suit, stopping only to work off her boots before removing it the rest of the way. The fabric, pieces of it twisted and turned half inside out, was discarded to the side.

Her knees were up, feet on the ground, thighs held together as he sat in front of her. Shepard kissed at one of her calves, leaning over to brush his mouth to her outer thigh, and then back to the highest portion of her at her knees, fingers nudging them apart. Tali gave no resistance, just let them fall apart, wilting like a flower's petals under the noon day sun and dry heat.

His hands ran over her upper legs to her abdomen, caressing the flesh they passed on the way to her breasts, where he finally gave pause, kneading the soft tissue. Tali moaned quietly, shut her eyes and turned her head to the side, biting at the back of one of her three digit hands.

"Do you love me?" Shepard asked, already knowing the answer, but there was something about hearing it now, without the helmet a wall between them.

"I-I-I love you," she responded, words quaking as his mouth dropped to her breast, mouth suckling at a darkened nipple. He released it as she arched into him, just when she needed it most, and Shepard sat back on his haunches, pulling at his own shirt. Tali opened her eyes long enough to catch the removal of it, his lighter skin, handsome even puckered with scars and old wounds.

"John," she said as she watched him descend, his mouth seeking out the core of her warmth, day old stubble scratching her skin as he proceeded.

"Shh," he chastised her, arms around her thighs and holding her open, apart, and inviting. Shepard wasted no time, just tasted her, searing hot and soaking wet, and Tali shivered at the direct stimulation of his tongue, pulling her hips back and away. He held her steady though, always prepared to fight her body's instinctual resistance as it warmed up to his touch, and soon Tali's words were replaced by incoherent moans as he built her up. When she was there, nearly over the edge, John pulled away, releasing her hips and body unto herself again, and listened for the usual, pitiful cry from her throat at being left so unsatisfied for the time being.

"We finally have a home," he said, kissing her thigh with slick lips.

Her voice gave an audible shiver. "And soon we'll have children."

"Sons," John said, kissing at a breast as he moved over her again. "And daughters." He soothed the neglected one. While she was otherwise distracted, he fumbled with the rest of his clothes, only getting so far as so unzip his pants, pushing them and his underwear down just enough to free himself, hard and twitching.

"They'll play out here." Tali watched him from below, fingers gripping into the dirt and grass above her head, unconsciously emphasizing her point. "And they won't have to wear suits. They'll be free."

Shepard brushed his hand over her cheek and then her forehead, smoothing away the smattering of dirt she'd put there earlier, surely by accident. "And they'll live with the sun on their face."

While her lavender skin may have been cleaned of the residual soil, Tali touched her open palm to his face, leaving behind her day's work on his cheek and even the bridge of his nose. She smiled, and John returned it knowingly, but made no move to clear it away just the same.

"And I'm yours…" Tali said, her words punctuated by the sudden force of him sliding home inside of her, gripping at his shoulders, legs cradling his waist. "Forever."

Though their bodies clung together as they made love against Rannoch's earth, John pressed a palm against her stomach, movements slowing. "I'm going to give you a child," he breathed, kissing her neck.

Biology wouldn't cooperate, but much like they'd first dreamt together years before, thinking of the impossibility of a home together on Rannoch, Shepard and Tali continued to hope otherwise.

"Please," she begged, and it wasn't just for the rocking of his body into hers, the way the angle of his hips dragged him against her insides, and how close it made her to finally achieving that long delayed peak. "We can do it this time," she moaned, "Keelah, I can feel it."

Her words were cut off, strangled by the sound of her letting go, body throbbing and contracting all at once, climax rippling through her while hips moved on instinct, pushing back at his in the long seconds of ecstasy. Shepard didn't trail far behind, and before she'd fallen into that pleasant numbness, body tingling and twitching, John groaned, roaring into the silent hillside as he spilled himself inside of her. Together, they rested, him atop her, while her arms circled around him, crossed loosely at the back of his neck. With his head pillowed on her breast, their chests heaved together in time.

Shepard could think of nothing else in the moments that followed other than the woman beneath him, and the hope they both brimmed with for a child in her stomach. He pulled out of her despite her protests and fingers grabbing at him, urging him to stay buried inside her, stretching her and satisfying her with the sensation of fullness, and Shepard laid his head against her abdomen.

He thought of a boy with Tali's skin and his eyes, sleeping under the cool shade of the tree they'd planted. Of a daughter with hair as long as her mother's, the family tending to the garden under the afternoon sun, cherishing and thanking the planet for giving back to them just as they gave to it.

"Where are you?" Tali asked at his extended silence, stroking his scalp.

"Thinking about them," He didn't clarify, knowing she would understand.

"Where are you?" She repeated, but this time there was pain in her voice. He hadn't heard her sound that way since the end of the war.

Shepard lifted his head to look at her, brow furrowed in confusion. "Tali…what—"

"Where are you, Shepard?"

John breathed in deep lungfuls of air. That ache in his back he could recall from the long months of building the house on Rannoch, it was back, but blindingly strong and sharp. He tried to move, not feeling his legs, but there was the strange faraway sensation of at least being connected to his fingers, hands, and that, he knew, was at least a good sign. Around him was darkness, only made worse by the feeling of his body pinned down, and every halfhearted struggle he gave took another minute of his life away.

How long had he been here, he wondered. Hours, days? How long since he'd blown the Citadel to pieces to save the galaxy?

A ringing sounded in his ears though his ability to hear faded in and out, a side effect of blood loss, of his head not getting the oxygen and bloodflow it needed.

"Where—" Silence. "—John?"

He tried to focus, tried to decipher between reality and hallucination, his brain still clinging to the dream of Rannoch it had given him. There were worse ways to die, he thought, than to get there while dreaming of the future he longed to have.

"Shepard!" The voice broke in exasperation, and that was all the reason he needed to believe it was real. "Are you alive?"

"Tali," he tried, but no sound came out, so he made a second attempt. The loudness of his own voice startled him. "I'm here, Tali… I'm here."


End file.
